Knowledge management incorporates two distinct areas of information: formal knowledge (e.g., educational classes, courses, training, and certificate or degree programs) and informal knowledge (that which is accumulated within an organization or institution by its members—for instance, what is the best method sales support by an organization's staff)
Informal, or institional knowledge, is an increasingly important asset to a variety of organizations. As employees grow older and retire, much of their experience regarding the daily operations of the organization are lost forever. As new employees join the organization, they must be trained and educated in these same operations the aggregation of informal knowledge into software-driven databases that may be accessible by users or user groups. For example, the military might experience a loss of important repair personnel during wartime. The use of informal knowledge (and formal knowledge such as an online training class) could rapidly provide additional personnel to assume the military's necessary tasks. The management of such informal knowledge can dramatically improve the effectiveness of organizations such as the military, corporations, and other institutions.
Formal knowledge, on the other hand, are educational and training opportunities such as classes, continuing education, training seminars, degrees and certificates as well as any database that contains pedagogically structured information. Online and distance learning is a increasingly important part of formal knowledge in the spectrum of knowledge management. For example, online learning promises to bring high quality educational services to anyone with a computer and a connection to the Internet. Educational opportunities are often out of reach for many because of their circumstances. For instance, a private in the military might be stationed on a base overseas. To further his education, classes may be taught at his base. But, if not, he may have to postpone furthering his education until his time in the military is over. A need exists for a method of bringing high quality education to that soldier.
The military also has an interest in bringing specific content to its soldiers. For example, educating an officer in tactics for a particular environment might be available from different and multiple databases located at several military academies. However, the officers in the field may not have time to travel to and attend seminars on these tactics. Instead, a need exists for a method to provide aggregated information from disparate sources regarding educational content and informal organizational knowledge, serialize this content and then deliver it to the appropriate personnel.
While military personnel have been used in this example, any individual may have the same needs. Also, many organizations face the need to have a centralized point to find the educational content and the supplies (e.g., textbooks, software, online libraries) that are needed to utilize or supplement that content.